God, I love it when Ryan Adams gets folky. This is right up there with “Pearls On A String” for my favorite folk/bluegrass style song of his. I think one of the reasons I like this one so much is because it breaks one of the major rules of bluegrass. While a lot of songs refer to simpler times in the Southeastern/Midwestern rural U.S., he goes ahead and modernizes it with references to Los Angeles and drugs… Not exactly “Keep On The Sunny Side”…
There are bouncy banjos, warm acoustic guitars deep in the background, and some backup singers who make this song sound like it could have been recorded during the Great Depression. (You know, if they don’t pay any attention to the lyrics) This is one of the few songs on the bonus disc that I feel wouldn’t have fit on Gold that well, but I’m definitely glad they included it. It’s a fun listen and a really good song to drive to, as I discovered recently.
